California Code of Regulations
Title 3 - Food and Agriculture
Division 4 - Plant Industry
Chapter 2 - Field Crops
Subchapter 2 - Commercial Feed
Article 14 - Definitions and Standards
Section 2773.1 - Alfalfa Products

(a) The name of an alfalfa product may include the word "dehydrated" only when the product is prepared entirely from freshly cut alfalfa having a moisture content of not less than 70.0 percent before being artificially dried at a temperature of not less than 212 degrees Fahrenheit for a period of not more than 45 minutes. Dehydrated alfalfa products shall contain not less than 15.0 percent crude protein and not more than 28.0 percent crude fiber. If the product does not meet the above standards it shall be called a dehydrated forage product.

(b) Chopped Alfalfa is the entire alfalfa hay, chopped but not ground finely enough to become a meal, without the addition of any alfalfa stems, alfalfa straw, or other foreign material, or removal of the leaves and containing not less than 15.0 percent protein and not more than 30.0 percent crude fiber.

(c) Alfalfa Meal is obtained from the grinding of the entire alfalfa hay, without the addition of any alfalfa stems, alfalfa straw, or foreign material, or the removal of the leaves and containing not less than 15.0 percent protein and not more than 30.0 percent crude fiber.

(d) Alfalfa Leaf Meal is the ground product consisting chiefly of leafy materials separated from alfalfa hay containing not more than 18.0 percent crude fiber.

(e) Forage Meal is a mixture of alfalfa hay with alfalfa straw or other hays, straws or legumes and contains not less than 8.0 percent protein and not more than 38.0 percent fiber.

(f) Alfalfa Stem Meal is the ground product remaining after the separation of the leafy material from alfalfa hay or meal. When used in a mixture, the maximum percent of stem meal shall be stated in the list of ingredients.

(g) Alfalfa pellets, cubes, wafers, and other extruded forms of alfalfa are obtained from processing the entire alfalfa, without the addition of any alfalfa stems, alfalfa straw or foreign material and shall contain not less than 15.0 percent crude protein and not more than 30.0 percent crude fiber.

(h) Alfalfa Nutrient Concentrate is the product obtained from the extracted juice of freshly cut alfalfa, by coagulation, separation from the alfalfa solubles and subsequent dehydration. The product should express both protein and Xanthophyll guarantees.

(i) Concentrated Alfalfa Solubles is the product obtained by the concentration of the liquid remaining after the separation of Alfalfa Nutrient Concentrate from the juice of freshly cut alfalfa. The moisture level should not exceed 50.0 percent.

(j) If the alfalfa products defined in this section do not comply with the standards indicated in every respect, the term "forage" must be substituted for the word "alfalfa" in the name of the product.